A dad-of-three from Liverpool who worked with asbestos for several decades has won £127,000 in compensation from his former employers.
75-year-old Gordon Owen was exposed to asbestos dust whilst working for Cammell Laird Shipbuilders and Capper Pipe Service Company Ltd between the 1950s and 1980s.
Mr Owen, who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, won the payout after it was decided that the firms failed to protect him from the dangers of asbestos exposure.
“It’s been hard coming to terms with my diagnosis,” Mr Owen said.
“I’m always out of breath, I’m not active and I rely on my children’s support for most of my day-to-day tasks.
“All those years ago health and safety measures were not in place to protect workers like me from asbestos. It’s gutting that I was not warned of the serious health risk of what I was working with.”
Mr Owen was diagnosed with asbestos in October 2012. He was exposed to asbestos through his work at Capper Pipe Service Company Limited and Cammell Laird Shipbuilders, a firm which no longer exists and has no connection to the owners of the modern day Cammell Laird.
Mr Owen started working as an apprentice pipe fitter for Cammell Laird Shipbuilders in 1953. He worked in boiler and engine rooms and was exposed to asbestos dust through other workers mixing asbestos by hand and it being swept up in clouds of dust.
At Capper Pipe Service Mr Owen worked as a pipe fitter and welder and would frequently strip out and remove old asbestos lagging by hand to access pipes.